The Last Rose
by fallenangellxoxo
Summary: Light Yagami is a Guardian- a trained assassin with the duty of protecting the sole surviving heiress, Sayu. In order to protect her, they go undercover in Wammy's House as orphaned siblings—where the greatest detective in the world is determined to shut down the murderous Guardians. But would L be able to tell if one of them was living under the same exact roof?
1. Death

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE! VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS STORY!**

**A/N: First, thank you for taking the time to read my story, it means a lot to me:) **

**Second: The first chapter takes place in Japan, the rest in England (unless otherwise stated)**

**Third: **_**Lucian**_** is an OC, **_**Light**_** is Light.**

**Fourth: I switched up the family trees, so don't be alarmed! This is AU.**

**Fifth: No Death Note (as of now, might add it later)!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction because all this would've already happened:P**

**Excuse any spelling errors!**

* * *

><p><strong>Lefebvre Estate, Japan<strong>

Did I think today would be the day that I died? If only I had known, I probably would've stayed in bed longer.

But the truth was that it was an average Monday morning. The cool fall air had already started making leaves change colors and the flowers in the grand garden were swift to die. Only Sayu's roses remained alive, and that was due to her constant care. If it wasn't because of that, they would've wilted and fallen weeks ago.

The halls were quiet and peaceful this morning, only the sounds of Lucian's footsteps rang through the hallway. I followed closely behind him, taking my time with each step and analyzing my surroundings. Above me, a giant crystal chandelier sparkled although it wasn't even on, and exquisite vases decorated each corner. Although I would never admit it, this was my favorite area of the estate. The hallway had massive windows that displayed the grand garden and at sunset, as the sun melted out in the sky, it was absolute perfection.

Now I wasn't poetic or anything, it was just something I'd noticed since I was little.

Lucian stopped and turned to me, giving me an amused look. "You know, maybe if you got yourself a girlfriend, you wouldn't be so gloomy all the time."

I gave the sixteen year old the best deadpan look I could muster. "Relationships don't necessarily bring happiness."

"Maybe not, but if you're lucky, you might have a girlfriend who doesn't find you boring and actually want to sleep with you." He joked.

I ignored Lucian's remark; I had gotten used to his hormonal filled 'conversations' and could easily pretend he never spoke. If I wrote a book about what I did every day, it would fill up approximately half a page, if not less. I woke up before dawn, got dressed, trained, woke up Lucian, ate, entertained him the best I could for a solid twelve hours, and went to bed. Of course I had meals and bathroom breaks in between, but that basically described an average day for Lucian and me.

When Lucian realized I wasn't continuing our conversation, he rolled his eyes at me. "You know I was just teasing. You're no fun, would it kill you to act like seventeen year old instead of an old man?"

I took a deep breath and struggled not to sound irritated. "My job is to protect you Lucian, not be your friend."

By now, we were almost to the other side of the estate, closer to Monsieur Lefebvre's office. This area was usually off limits for the Lefebvre children, but today, Lucian, the oldest son and heir to the Lefebvre fortune, had been summoned by his father.

Lucian sighed and looked at me with sad eyes. "Do you even like me?"

In all honesty, I did like the sixteen year old. His jokes were annoying, but he was overall a nice person who showed respect to everyone, even his servants. Considering he'd been spoiled since the day he was born, I was surprised at how considerate he'd grown.

But I couldn't tell him that.

In my same, monotone voice I responded. "Would it make a difference?"

Lucian hesitated before answering. "Not really, but wouldn't you prefer to like the person you're going to have to follow around for the rest of your life?"

"Whether I like you or not, I'm still your Guardian and I will give up my life to save yours if necessary."

He didn't answer at first, but I heard him mutter. "You never even gave me a chance…"

I pretended not to hear him, because he was somewhat right. I never did give him a chance. I never thought that I would grow up to be Lucian's Guardian in the first place. I had been trained just to be an ordinary guard for the estate- nothing special. I wouldn't mind the life of guard, it was simple and more flexible. But then I was named an Elite.

An 'Elite' was what our organization named us. The Lefebvre family was a wealthy family, of course we never discussed _how_ they gained their wealth. But I could assure you it was not through legal means. Now this is where the Guardians came in. We were an elite group of... 'Protectors'. Or assassins. Whatever we were needed for.

Whenever a wealthy family was targeted, the family could call us for help. We were under the radar so the government didn't know much about us, they believed we were a myth.

But we were all too real. Roughly fifty years ago, a dozen Guardians were assigned to the Lefebvre's family. I had been born into the Guardians and assigned to none other than the Lefebvre heir, Lucian Lefebvre. From a young age, I was trained in the art of self-defense and studied different languages. Intellectually, I mastered subjects at an alarming rate, finishing my schooling at the age of fifteen.

However, instead of continuing my combat training after I finished, the Guardians noticed the resemblance between Lucian and me from a young age. Although my hair was darker and longer than his, when I put on his clothes and styled my hair differently, it was frightening how similar we looked. And thus, led to my new assignment: Decoy.

If there was ever a threat on Lucian's life, I would simply throw on my disguise and people would mistake me as him. But his parents and younger sister, Sayu, could easily differentiate us by our clashing personalities and if we stood side by side. But to a stranger, I was like an identical twin.

Lucian and I were from two separate worlds; his world was full of lavish parties and wealth, mine was filled with treachery and deceit. There wasn't room for friends or mistakes, just business. Lucian still didn't understand that.

"Lucian! Light!" a chirpy voice called behind us, causing me to wince. Only one person in the world referred to me by that name. I turned around and saw Sayu, lightly jogging to us, her brown hair was out in large, brown curls, swinging with every motion.

Lucian smiled eagerly at his younger sister. "Good morning Sayu,"

Sayu returned the smile at us. "Are you going to see father? Could I come too?"

Sayu was a pretty young woman, only fourteen, but still charming. She was kind, polite, very intelligent, and of course, one of the heiress to the Lefebvre fortune. However, that was where things got tricky. Although we weren't told to speak of it, it was well known in the estate that Sayu was the product of an extramarital affair.

Not much was known about it, just that one day Monsieur Lefebvre came home with a ten year old girl. She spoke fluent Japanese and English, but no French, her father's preferred language. We were told she was an heiress and not to question it, so we didn't.

Rumors around the estate said her mother was a Japanese model who Monsieur Lefebvre had been infatuated with years ago on a business trip. Apparently, he knew nothing about Sayu until the woman passed away. Sayu never spoke about it and I certainly didn't press her. It wasn't my place to speak.

"Sure," Lucian answered continuing to his father's office. Lucian had accepted her as his sister from the beginning, eager to teach her French and the proper social etiquettes. The same couldn't be said about her step mother who was still having difficulties accepting her husband's infidelity.

Like I said, it wasn't my job to decipher their thoughts and feelings. I was just there to take a bullet when needed.

That was the strangest thing, I think. How casual death was in my mind. From an early age the Guardians had taught us that death was inevitable, so don't dwell too much on how it would occur. Because of that mindset, I was never afraid to die, but I hated the feel I constantly had. Like I was always waiting for it to happen.

Another result of being raised as a Guardian. Guardians had no family (that we knew of). After our early toddler years, we were transferred to an estate and lived there until old enough to defend them. I just so happened to be assigned to the Lefebvre's, a French family living in Japan.

"Damn it, he's still in a meeting." Lucian said, when we reached the doors to the office. The doors were glass, so you could see the inside.

I saw Monsieur Lefebvre sitting down in his office chair; next to him, two Guardians stood, scanning the room for any signs of danger. Across from him sat a man with a briefcase and his own guards. They obviously hadn't reached an agreement, so it seemed like Lucian and Sayu would have to wait for a bit.

"Light, do you think this weekend you can ask father if I could go to the city? My French tutor told me there's a boutique and I've been on my best behavior. Plus, he listens to you." Sayu asked, giving me her widest smile.

I sighed heavily. "You know he'll say no, Sayu."

It didn't matter how good Sayu was, her father never let her past the estate. Being a secret heiress, he wanted her protected and hidden at all times. Sayu hadn't left the estate since her arrival four years ago and with only the guards, servants, and tutors as company, she had grown relentless. But what did anyone expect from locking a fourteen year old girl in a house for years?

As we waited, I scanned the area as Sayu tried her best to convince me to ask her father. The estate was by far the safest place in the world, hidden in the Middle of Nowhere, Japan, the Lefebvre's had no need for Guardians. The job itself had become tedious.

Following Lucian around, listening to his never ending chatter wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I had put up with it for years, but even I was getting exhausted.

I was seventeen years old and what I really wanted was some excitement in my life... Like going to university and furthering my education. Monsieur Lefebvre 's always said I was brighter than his son and could definitely make something of myself. But that wasn't my job, my job was to protect Lucian.

But what happened when Lucian got married? Did I move in with him and sleep in the same bed as him and his wife? No. I wanted more than just play babysitter with him.

Suddenly, Lucian gasped and Sayu let out a strangled cry. "_Oh my God_." she choked out in Japanese, her hands clamped to her mouth.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't been paying any attention to what was happening. I followed Lucian's shocked gaze through the glass door and gasped in shock.

Monsieur Lefebvre's throat was gushing with blood.

As a seventeen year old boy, I would panic, maybe even freeze. But as a _Guardian_, I quickly switched into 'protector' mode and went through the five steps I had been taught. First, analyze the situation. I looked through the door and noticed his two Guardians were down on the ground, unmoving. Dead, I concluded. Always go with the worst case possible.

Next, I assessed the enemy. The man with the briefcase was now standing and his two guards had blood on their suits. One carried a knife, the other a gun. They were discussing something, and then, one pointed out at the door where we were standing.

That was step number three. Avoiding the danger.

I was positive they had spotted us, why else would they point in our direction? And from the scene I had seen inside, it was obvious they had murdered Monsieur Lefebvre. I was surprised at how easily I was taking this, no panicking or screaming for help. But then again, I was trained for this.

Lucian and Sayu on the other hand were not. Lucian, was pale and shaking uncontrollably while Sayu was sobbing and breathing heavily, as if she couldn't get enough oxygen and about to faint. I couldn't have any of this, so it came to my fourth step: Fight or flight.

In any other situation, I would've fought. My training had not left any room for the enemy to beat me. But these people had just _murdered_ two Shadow's and Monsieur Lefebvre's. I would just be child's play to them. So I went with flight.

I grabbed Lucian and Sayu's arms and sunk to the floor." Be quiet and _don't_ panic." I hissed. "They've spotted us and if we don't leave now, they will _kill_ us. We have to get to the kitchen, there's a servants exit there. Now I'll need you two to trust me and not panic, alright?"

I looked at both of them in the eyes and they both nodded, their eyes frightened. With a deep breath, I started leading the way back down the hallway. I was crouched lowly, and half running half walking. My footsteps were silent, a technique I had long learned. Sayu, however, had heels on that made the loudest sounds. I gave her a brief look that said '_Get rid of those damn heels_'. She quickly discarded them.

As we made our way, crouching through my favorite hallway, I no longer admired its beauty. Everything about this situation seemed unreal, how could Monsieur Lefebvre be dead? He had such strong connections and was so powerful... I shook my head feverishly, I had to focus and get the heirs out. With Monsieur Lefebvre dead, that left his children as the successors to the empire he'd formed. But where was his wife? Did she know what was happening?

We finally reached the stairs that led down to the kitchen and I let Lucian and Sayu go first. I leaned back against the wall and kept look out until they were halfway down. Then I quickly followed them until we reached the lower level. It was deserted, thankfully, with the table being set for breakfast. If I saw one of the servants, I'd alert them and they'd contact my superiors.

"Quickly, get inside." I said opening the kitchen door. "We're almost out, you two are doing-" I stopped short when I saw the inside of the kitchen.

Inside the once happy and animated kitchen was at least half a dozen slaughtered bodies. The cook, the servants, the maids, all lay in array with either fatal stab wounds or gunshots. Their blood pooled around their bodies and edged towards the door. Sayu screamed so loudly, I had to clamp her mouth shut. The sight was truly sickening, considering these were people who had practically raised me.

I tried not to look, but I met the dead eyes of the cook, Madame Jacqueline. Her curly red hair fell in limp masses over her kind face. She had been shot three times in the chest. Madame Jacqueline had been the closest thing to a mother I ever had and seeing her like this, submerged in her own blood almost made me freeze in shock.

I forced myself to stop looking at faces because I knew I'd recognize each one and memories of what they did for me would come back and halt my mission. I had to protect the heirs. It was my duty, my job, my reason for exist-

"_There they are!_" someone said in a foreign language. Since I wasn't focused, it took me a moment to pick out which language they had spoken in. My ears had easily translated it, so it had to be a language I heard often... English! I'd have to remember small details like that when my superiors came.

I quickly shut the kitchen door when I realized they were coming straight at us with a knife and gun cocked. A wooden door would hardly stand for a gun, but it would buy us some time... The servant exit was a small rectangular door that had a lock. It led to a small tunnel and after you crawled out, it would lead you to the balcony. From there, we could take the stairs and either hide in the garden or escape, depending on how heavily guarded things were outside.

Somebody kicked the door from the other side and shook the doorknob agitatedly. I held on tightly though, as Lucian and Sayu stood, still in shock from the massacre in front of them. The struggle to hold the door was hard, these men were positive they could open it without the use of gun power, but if I let go, they'd kill me before I could get through the servant door...

Then bitter reality sunk in: I wouldn't be going through.

The fifth and final step taught in my training was self-sacrifice. If it ever came to the situation where it was between the wards' life and yours, you would never hesitate to give up your own. I had been taught this since before I could read, this was embedded in my head, death was inevitable.

So why was I stalling?

The answer was obvious. I was only seventeen and had hardly ever left the estate. There were so many things I'd yet to experience, I wasn't ready to die.

But that didn't matter, it was an oath I had taken years ago. This was my duty, I would fulfill it. "Lucian..." I said, my voice surprisingly strong. "Lucian, listen to me." Lucian wasn't listening, he was going into shock. "Lucian! Snap out of it!"

Finally, he managed to look at me with fearful eyes. "They're dead..." he said in a strange voice that I had never heard him use.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I know, and right now, were the only ones who know what happened. You two are the heirs, you need to survive to continue your family's line and get justice for your parents-"

"What about Madame Lefebvre?" Sayu cried, referring to her step mother who mostly ignored her.

The men on the other side shook the door, almost yanking my arm out of the socket. "Sayu they had already planned this, I wouldn't be surprised if they already-" Lucian turned pale, realizing that his mother was probably dead and Sayu gasped. Shoot. Wrong choice of words. "Don't worry, she probably escaped. But right now, I can't hold on anymore." I heard loud banging and cursing on the other side.

Lucian and Sayu stopped shaking and their eyes widened in fear. I took a deep breath and gripped the handle firmly. "Lucian we all can't leave, one of us has to hold the door while the others escape..."

"No..." Lucian whispered.

"You and Sayu need to go through the door and run and hide in the garden. Help is going to arrive soon." I hope. "Stay there and... and I'll join you two as soon as I can." Alright I was lying, but what could you say when death was literally banging at the door? I found it strange that I could still crack jokes at a time like this. Must be some twisted mental reaction to dying.

Lucian shook her head. "No, Light! You won't, they'll kill you. Please come-"

"I can't, okay!?" I shouted. This made Lucian and Sayu stiffen and I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I want justice, Lucian. You being alive with ensure that I and your family will get justice. Don't worry about me," I gave them a rare, small smile. "I'll be fine. You two... I have faith in you."

As annoying as Lucian may be sometimes, I couldn't deny the fact that over the course of sixteen years, I'd grown somewhat attached to him. I may of found him irritating, but he was like air. Always around, but you never would notice until you had nothing to breathe.

And of course, I would miss Sayu. I would never tell anyone this, but I had grown fond of the girl and felt sorry she wasn't accepted here. Maybe she would find her place as she grew older. I wouldn't know.

Lucian just stared at me in awe for a second and slowly approached me as the struggling on the other side became stronger. Their grunts told me they were getting impatient, and I knew any second now, they'd shoot the door down. I thought Lucian was coming closer to hug me or something, but to my complete and utter surprise, Lucian did something I'd never imagine him to do in a million years.

He pushed me out of the way and grabbed the door handle.

I wasn't expecting the push and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Lucian pushed his body against the door with a determined expression on his face.

"Lucian, what the hell!?" I shouted, scrambling up. Was he _mad_? That was the riskiest move anyone could do, what if while we transitioned, the men had pushed through!?

But Lucian looked down at me with pride in his eyes. "With me, Sayu has little chance to survive, but with you, _Light_, I _know s_he'll survive. We only need one heir, not both of us. I know if you're with Sayu, you'll protect her. I know she'll be fine."

I was shocked. Did Lucian really just give up his life for _mine_? Never had I been more shocked. "Lucian don't be ridiculous, you two can survive."

Sayu shook her head. "All three of us can! Let's make a run for it or put a chair or-"

"No," Lucian said. "I can hold them off, you two need to run. Light, I know no matter what, you'd get justice for my family... and me. I'm not asking you to go, I'm _telling_ you and as my Guardian, you cannot refuse my order!"

I frowned at him. "Lucian we're wasting time..." there was uncertainty in my voice now, which wasn't a good thing.

Lucian sighed, "Then stop wasting time and go." he gave me one last pleading look, "_Please._"

The look in his eyes told me that this was final, that he'd spend all day arguing with me if he had to. That if this was the end, this was his dying wish. I was ready to deliberate with him when a gun shot fired near the hinge of the door. Lucian didn't scream, but jumped a little, before pushing his body weight on the door even more. "You two have to leave now, I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

I nodded and quickly jumped over the dead bodies to the other side of the kitchen. I bent down to the disguised door that blended in with the wallpaper and took out a key in my pocket. This key was given to all workers in the house and opened this secret door. I also took out my knife from my boots. It was glossy, coated with a layer of poison that wouldn't kill the person who was stabbed, but paralyze them for half an hour.

I opened the door and had to drag Sayu in, who was pleading with her brother to come with us. When I'd finally coaxed her into the tunnel, she poked his head out one last time in a desperation. "Lucian_, please, _don'tleaveme_."_

Lucian gave his sister a sad smile and said to me, "Protect her, Light. I transfer you to her. You are now her guardian, promise me you'll keep her safe."

I nodded to him, "I promise. Thank you, Lucian-"

_Bam!_ A gunshot went through Lucian's shoulder, making all of us scream. That told me it was time to go. Sayu kept calling for her brother, and just then, another gunshot flew through Lucian's side, grazing his ribs. This sent Lucian down to his knees, but his grip on the door was still there. Another shot went through, this time, embedding itself deep and his back. Sayu let out a small cry and I shut the door.

The door had small cracks which enabled us to see what was happening, and although I knew I should be escaping, I wanted to see their faces. I had to see who these murderers were. The men kicked the door open, and Lucian fell in a pitiful pile on the floor. He wasn't dead yet and groaned in pain. One of the men, grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

"Boy, tell me where's the other one." he said in broken French. The fact that he spoke to him in French told me he obviously had to know a bit about the family and this was no random attack. Why else would he not speak to him in Japanese when we lived in Japan?

The intruders wouldn't turn around so I couldn't see their faces. Sayu gripped my arm, shaking violently. I would've comforted her if I wasn't so determined to see the faces. The two men were dressed in black, with jackets that probably concealed more weapons.

Blood dribbled out of Lucian's lip as he answered. "Over... my... dead body." he gasped.

The man chuckled. "_Very well, but remember you asked for it." _he answered in English. He must not know Lucian was fluent in not only French and Japanese, but also English. The man lifted his knife and in one swift motion, slit Lucian's throat.

Sayu buried her face in my arm and shook wildly, her cries muffled in my sleeve. I was in complete shock as blood oozed from his pale neck down to his navy sweater. Although he was dead, he didn't look peaceful, in fact, he was staring right at me. His gaze said it all: _Protect Sayu._

The man then conveniently turned around in our direction and must've noticed the door. But that's when I saw it, his face. I would never forget it, his square jaw, coal black eyes, and thick eyebrows. All features many men possessed, but something about him was sickening.

Maybe it was the fact that he had just murdered a sixteen year old.

But I didn't waste any more time watching and grabbed a traumatized Sayu, and I started crawling through the tunnel. It was hard, to say the least; Sayu was no longer any help and was shaking insanely. I wanted to tell her to snap out of it, that she was fourteen years old and had to stay alive. If she didn't, her brother had just killed himself for nothing.

But at the same time, I was sympathetic for her feelings and wanted to sit down and hope to wake up from this nightmare. But I couldn't. I had promised Lucian I'd keep her safe and that was exactly what I would do. So I kept dragging her through the dusty and cobwebbed infected tunnel, and didn't even panic when I heard the door open and someone shout "_It's an escape route!_" in English.

We kept crawling until I felt the ground beneath my feet turn more rugged. We were close to the exit door. I could still hear soft shouts from behind us, but I knew if I turned around, I'd probably freeze up in fear. But I couldn't be afraid, not today.

When I ran into a cool wall, I realized this was the end. My hands scrambled around a metal door until I felt the handle. After I unlatched it, I pushed the door open and the darkness of the tunnel was illuminated by the bright sunlight of the outside world.

A gust of cool autumn air blew in my face, spiking up my senses. "Almost there, Sayu." I encouraged. She'd been awfully silent recently, but I couldn't risk worrying about her when our lives were at stake.

I crawled out of the tunnel and turned around to help Sayu out. But she was already hauling herself through the tunnel, with an expressionless face. When we were both out, I scanned around our surroundings, with my knife in my hand. The coast was clear and beckoned for Sayu to follow as we quickly jogged across the balcony. During this time, I made sure to listen for any abrupt sounds that could mean danger.

Everything felt surreal, not like a dozen people had just been killed in the house. This was my home and my mind refused to believe it had just been invaded. Those men were just part of another business that Monsieur Lefebvre worked with, why would they want him and his family dead? What did they want?

"_There you are!_" Someone hissed, intercepting my pathway. It was a rather short man, with a beard and leather gloves. "Give me the girl and I'll allow you to live." He said the last part in Japanese, which was even stranger.

The man obviously knew Sayu grew up with Japanese being her primary language, why else would he speak in Japanese instead of French like they did Lucian? Then another thought hit me:

How did they even _know_ about Sayu?

We had just found out about her four years ago and she never left the estate. This situation was getting stranger by the moment.

I had been trained to react to every threat and not negotiate with the enemy. So I glared darkly at him, "You'll have to get through me first." I said darkly. And sure enough, the short man ran up, ready to kick me, but I got my knife ready and aimed. The moment his foot was about to hit my face, I slashed my knife around to his ankle, cause his leg to collapse.

He fell to the ground and cursed in pain. "_Son of a bitch_." He said in English. My eyes flared and I lunged at him, stabbing his shoulder in the process. When I pulled the knife out and he screamed in pain and tried to punch me, but of course, he couldn't. His arm was paralyzed.

"Sayu! Go!" I shouted, pushing down on the hit man. Maybe I could get a few answers from him... When I didn't hear footsteps, I turned around. Sayu was still standing there. "Didn't you hear me? Go to the garden!"

But Sayu didn't move, in fact, she had a strange vacant expression as I spoke. Her eyes looked at me puzzled, like she just realized I had spoken. "Sayu, why aren't moving? Hide!" But she still didn't move. She just kept staring at me with that puzzled expression.

I didn't have time for this; I turned to the man. "Who sent you? Why did you kill Monsieur Lefebvre? Speak!" I demanded.

The man smirked and chuckled at me. "_Say hello to your precious family, brat_." He hissed in English. I frowned in confusion, and for the first time noticed something in his left hand, the non-paralyzed one.

It was a small device with a red button, and his thumb was pressing down on it.

My eyes widened in horror and I quickly scrambled up and grabbed Sayu's hand. "Sayu, it's a bomb! We have to get out of here!" I exclaimed, dragging her away from the man. I didn't know where the explosives were, but I'm sure it had to be near from what the hit man had said.

Sayu was still no help and was slowing us down. At this rate, we'd never reach the staircase to the garden. We were halfway there and I leaned over the white balcony and peered below, we were directly above Sayu's rose garden. This was the second floor, if we jumped, we most likely would survive and only have temporary injuries. But the height did intimidate me.

"Sayu, we're going to have to jump, alright?" I said, mentally preparing myself for the fall. Sayu once again was playing mute and just stared at me in confusion. I was going to repeat my instructions when I heard the first explosion. It was an earsplitting _boom_! followed by the sound of walls crumbling.

I covered my ears in pain and so did Sayu. I think she finally understood the danger. Despite my painful ears, I forced myself to concentrate. The sound wasn't as loud, so it had to come from the far east side of the estate. If I was correct, that meant they would target the center of the house next-

_Boom!_ There went the center bomb. I realized then that we probably had less the ten seconds before the last one went off. Sayu was still playing the dazed card so I took it upon myself to make the next decision: Jump.

I grabbed Sayu's thin arms and hugged her tightly, as I dangled one foot over the thankfully low balcony. "Hang on!" I ordered, whispering one last pray before jumping.

The moment my body left the balcony, another explosion behind us erupted. It was so loud and deafening, I couldn't think or process the fact I was falling towards the hard ground. Sayu was screaming extremely loud and clung to me in fear. For a second, all sensation around me disappeared as I fell, air whipping around me in quick flashes. It wasn't until Sayu's nails dug deep enough in my skin did I come back to my senses.

From the angle we were plummeting at, Sayu would get the worst of it. I had to somehow manage for us to land on our sides, that way, our heads and necks would be slightly more protected. I forcefully twisted our body's positioning at the last moment, and thankfully, we landed on our side- painfully, though, if I may add.

The rose bush thorns stuck at my arm and face, cutting my skin upon impact. Sayu's head snapped back forcefully and she stopped screaming, stopped moving. This brought fear to my stomach immediately. I had landed the same exact way with only excruciating pain, surely Sayu wouldn't... die from the fall. It wasn't that high, right?

But we weren't out of harm's way yet. I could hear the balcony cracking and pieces were already toppling over. Using the last bit of strength I had, I mustered all my energy into rolling us out of the rose bush and into the dirt ground, behind trees and shrubs. We landed with a loud thud, and I was now in too much pain to move anymore. But at least we were hidden for the time being...

"Sayu...?" I murmured to her. Sayu's eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. She looked peaceful, almost asleep. I wanted to feel her pulse, but my arms were numb. I sighed and closed my eyes, all of a sudden feeling extremely exhausted. Maybe I was dying too...

The memory of all the people in the house made me want to cry, despite my teachings. I knew crying was for the weak, but with Sayu lying possibly dead in my arms and the estate left in rubble, I didn't know what to do. I tried so hard to protect her, but I had failed. Lucian had killed himself for nothing.

What kind of Guardian was I?

I just want this all to be a nightmare and when I opened my eyes, it would all go away. But when I opened my eyes, I only saw smoke and destruction. My eyelids felt heavy again and as they began to close I only saw one thing...

Sayu's last rose being whisked away in the air.


	2. Rebirth

**A/N: So if the first chapter didn't make sense, I'm hoping this chapter will start making things fall in place! But I can't tell the reader everything yet! I'm not sure if people are interested in this story, so I might start something else (unless you guys want me to continue this one!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Did you get any names? Did you recognize them at least?" Guardian Aiber asked near the end of the interrogation.<p>

I shook my head, which shot pain through my sore neck. "No, I only saw two, one who probably was killed in the explosion. They spoke English, so I assume they're from a country where English is the primary language. That's all I know." I felt like I had repeated this at least a dozen times in the last twenty minutes, but Aiber didn't seem to get it.

Aiber sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "Very well then, Light." He stood up from his chair and started heading out the door. "I'll go check on Sayu's condition. You should rest some more."

I didn't answer immediately, and stared absentmindedly at the floor at the mention of Sayu. "Is she going to be okay?" I asked.

Aiber stared at me for a few moments, not saying anything. He sighed heavily again and finally said, "Take care of yourself, Light." And he left.

The moment he was gone, I was relieved to be alone. These past three days have been nothing but constant interrogation. And if I wasn't being questioned, I was heavily sedated. I always had a strange dislike for hospitals, even now in the privacy of my recovery room, I was fidgeting and fighting the urge to not escape. It was something with the smell, with the atmosphere. It was too _clean_ in a way, if that made any sense.

But I hadn't made much sense lately. Apparently when the other Guardians found me, I was ranting nonsense and delirious. So much for my 'cold' and 'detached' demeanor. I had completely forgotten about the tracking device every Guardian wore. Somehow, one of the servants or maids had managed to click the emergency button that signaled a whole swat of Guardians who came to aide us. If only they had arrived earlier, maybe Lucian would've survived.

My tracking device should've been damaged in the explosion, but it somehow managed to survive. That's how they found Sayu and me in the rose garden. I wasn't sure what happened afterwards, but I woke up a day later in the hospital feeling so sore, I could hardly move.

I had been lucky though, the worst of my injuries was a sprained wrist which could heal quickly with minimal use. Of course my arms and the better part of my legs were embellished with cuts and bruises, but nothing long lasting. Besides the soreness and the sprain, I was in near perfect condition.

Sayu however... hadn't been so lucky. Well, I guess she was lucky considering she could've _died_ and didn't. But compared to me, she got the worst of it.

For starters, she was in a coma. The doctors believe the impact and position she fell in was the perfect formula to knock her out, but she should've woken up according to them. Aside from that, she had an abundant amount of cuts and bruises and a dislocated shoulder.

I hadn't gotten a chance to see her though, the doctors believed it would be best to keep us apart until she woke up. I The doctors were concerned that seeing her would trigger some 'emotional breakdown' from me, but the only reaction I would have was relief in knowing she'd survived and I had at least kept my promise to Lucian.

Now that I was well enough to walk and talk, the Guardians wanted to know what went wrong. Since our sanction only had the job of protecting the Lefebvre family, we hardly ever had to check in with our superiors. Whenever more Guardians were needed, we would contact them and Guardians would be sent. This was the first time a whole sanction had been destroyed and a family assassinated. It was only natural that they wanted to know where things went wrong.

So they sent in Guardian Aiber from the Elite Division to handle the situation. Aiber was by far one of the most acclaimed Guardians, protecting anyone from multimillionaires to delegates. Although he had been polite to me and treated me as his equal, I couldn't help but to feel suspicious around him. I felt like he was hiding something from me, like he knew there was more to the attack.

Since I was still seventeen and technically not a full-fledged Guardian, I wouldn't be punished _too_ harshly. I knew the punishment for the death of your ward was being sent to the training facilities, far from civilization and any witnesses. I wouldn't mind it too much, but I remembered Lucian's last words: _"Protect her, Light. I transfer you to her. You are now her guardian, promise me you'll keep her safe."_

If I was sent away, I wouldn't be able to protect her. If Lucian's dying wish was for me to be his sister's Guardian, then I would do it. Even if it meant having to turn my back on the Guardians, the people who had raised me, I would.

Suddenly, the door opened, interrupting my deep thinking. It was a nurse who made no eye contact and kept her head bowed as she spoke. "Light," she said in Japanese. She had a strange accent, so something told me this wasn't her first language. Now that I thought about it, none of my doctors even looked remotely Japanese... Were we even still in Japan?

"Yes?" I answered, yawning from the sedatives they constantly injected me with.

"I came to inform you that Sayu has woken up. She's speaking with the doctors at this very moment."

I stared at the nurse in shock, and forced myself to nod my head. _Thank goodness she woke up_, I thought, relieved. At least Lucian didn't die for nothing.

oOo

I didn't hear any more news about Sayu for two days. I was in the uncomfortable hospital bed, staring up at the cracks in the ceiling when someone opened my door. I craned my stiff neck to see who it was. Aiber and a woman.

"I apologize if we woke you up, Light." Aiber said, not seeming apologetic at all.

"It's fine, how's Sayu?" I asked, trying to sit up so I could see their faces better.

Aiber and the woman both exchanged glances. "That's actually why we came to speak with you." the woman said. "I don't think we've properly met, I'm Wedy, an… Operative Agent." She said the ending with a small smirk.

I tried not to snort; we all knew 'Operative Agent' was just another word for a Guardian whose sole purpose was to go undercover to kill. But I also knew that only the most talented became Operative Agents, so this woman must quite skilled.

Wedy had shoulder length blonde hair and even though she was wearing sun glasses, I could feel her eyes piercing through me. "Pleased to meet you." I answered, monotone.

"Light, as you've probably heard, Sayu has awoken." Aiber continued, taking a seat in the chair beside my bed. "Although we don't want to trouble you as you recover, there is something we feel you must know."

"What is it?" I asked, frowning slightly. From his tone, I knew whatever he was about to say wasn't going to be good.

"It appears the young heiress… has lost her memory."

It took a moment for what he said to settle in, but once it did, I felt a chill go down my spine. "She… she lost her memory? As in she can't remember the attack or she can't remember anything at all?"

This time, Wedy spoke. "Sayu is unable to remember most of her life. She doesn't recall her mother dying, she doesn't remember her father coming to bring her to the estate, she didn't even recall her name."

"Does she remember anything?" I said slowly.

"Barely. She remembers how to speak Japanese, some of her favorite things, and only one other person in the world. Her brother."

I stared at Wedy in confusion, "So she remembers Lucian, but not him dying?"

"Not exactly. We showed her a picture of her late mother, her father, and her step mother, but she could not identify them. However, when we showed her a picture of Lucian, she knew it was her brother, just not his name or anything about him." Wedy continued.

It made sense she would remember Lucian. He had been the one who cared the most about her when she first arrived at the estate and someone she was very close to. But to forget her mother? We barely knew anything about her to begin with, there was no way we could remind Sayu about her.

"Why did this happen?" I asked them.

Aiber shook his head, "We're not positive. From your report, we guess it must've occurred shortly after witnessing her brother's murder. You noted she had become quiet—most likely due to being traumatized. And then the fall from the balcony, it had to be enough to wipe away her memories."

I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. At least she didn't remember seeing her father and brother murdered, but not having any memories of her life at all?

"Light," Wedy said, gaining my attention again. "As much as we _love_ telling you this 'gently' you and I both know there's a reason I'm here and I'm sure you don't want me wasting any more of your time, correct?"

By now I had figured she was only here to escort me to the training centers where I would be lucky to see daylight in my lifetime. I couldn't allow that, of course. Now that I knew Sayu had almost no memories, she would need someone more than ever. If I was sent away, they would probably toss her aside with strangers.

"The reason Wedy is here today, Light, is because we need you for a mission." Aiber continued.

My eyes widened, I hadn't been expecting this. "A… mission?" I tried to sit up more, despite the pain.

Aiber nodded, "Yes, a mission. You—a Guardian in training- managed to survive an attack and leave with one of the heirs, unlike all the other full-fledged Guardians who not only perished, but allowed the family to die as well. For a seventeen year old, we're impressed.

"But Sayu is not out of danger yet. As far as we're concerned, whoever killed the Lefebvre's believe Sayu died as well. Because of this, we must get her out of Japan—out of Asia in fact."

I nodded at Aiber, trying not to let my shock show. "Yes, that only makes sense."

"Since discovering Sayu's memory lost, we've decided we could use this to our advantage. She remembers her brother—not his name or personality. Without her memories, we can paint a new life for her, she won't recall ever being a Lefebvre or the heiress of a powerful empire. She will remain hidden until the Guardians track down everyone responsible for this." He concluded.

"I understand the strategy, but how does that involve me?" I asked. Everything else made sense: Get Sayu out of the country, keep her hidden, and not tell her about her old life. I didn't necessarily agree with hiding her past, but at this point, I was just pleased they weren't going to toss her aside.

This time, Wedy spoke. "Light, you look identical to Lucian Lefebvre."

Although what she said was short and didn't answer my question, I understood. Suddenly, I realized why they were even bothering on telling me their plan instead of shipping me off to the training centers.

"You want me to pose as Lucian Lefebvre." I stated.

Wedy nodded, "Yes, however, we can't call you Lucian Lefebvre. Everyone knew Lucian Lefebvre was the heir, no one knew Sayu even existed. But you will pose as her brother while being her Guardian. You will not tell her about our association, you will just act as the average teenager—"

I interrupted her, "I can't,"

Aiber and Wedy looked taken back, "Wait, what?" Aiber nearly choked.

"I can't look at Sayu in the face every day, pretending to be her brother, who's supposed to be dead, while filling her head with fake memories. Lucian's _dead_, what happens if she suddenly remembers that?"

Aiber opened his mouth to speak, but Wedy stood up and approached my face. "Listen to me, _Light_. This wasn't an option, you _are_ a Guardian, and you took an oath. I don't care if you haven't made your first kill yet—you are still a Guardian and until the day you die, you work for us. Now, if you want to turn your back on the Guardians, an act of treason—if I may add, I will personally do the honor of slitting your throat. Are you starting to see clearly now?"

I saw Aiber smirk from the corner of my eye and he muttered, "Aren't female Guardians just the sweetest?"

To avoid immediate death, I gave her a brisk nod and she backed away. "Good," she said. "Now we'll debrief you later on, but for now, you should know that we found an orphanage in England. It caters specifically for gifted children, so you getting in shouldn't be too difficult."

"But Sayu?" I questioned.

"Don't worry, we'll handle that." Aiber answered, "You'll take the exam this Saturday and if all goes as planned, you and Sayu will be sent to England the following week."

"This orphanage is by far one of the safest in the world. Trust me, to get inside, I had to knock out surveillance for hours." Wedy added. "Once there, you will pose as siblings. Your name will be _Light Yagami_. Do you have any questions?"

"Just one, you said this orphanage is in England. So I assume we'll have to speak English there."

She gave me a curt nod, "Percisely. I'm not concerned about you, you've already mastered the language, but Sayu has all but forgotten French and her English is extremely weak. She can understand a few words, but speaking wise, she's clueless. Hopefully she'll begin to remember some aspects of English, if not, she'll have lessons there. But don't worry too much about Sayu, just focus on protecting her."

I wasn't sure if it was because of all the medicine they had me on, but I suddenly felt exhausted. Protecting Sayu would be the easy part, but pretending to be her brother? Lucian and I were like day and night! Sure, she might not remember his personality, but I wasn't the brotherly type.

"One last thing," Aiber said, "You're probably wondering why Wedy was brought here. If all goes as planned, you two will be going to the orphanage in England, so you'll need an outside ally. Wedy will be in Winchester as well, ready to help if there's any complications. If someone becomes suspicious, she'll handle them. If there's a threat, Wedy will stop it. Anything you'll need, Wedy will be there to take care of the matter."

I looked over at Wedy who had a smug expression on her face. I didn't want to imagine what she would do if we told her an orphan was getting too curious about us.

Aiber stood up and handed me a black folder. "Please read this, it's your debriefing file. We'll keep you updated."

With one final nod, the duo left me alone in the hospital room, with the black folder. I peered down at the folder and read the cover.

_Operation Wammy's House_

oOo

The next few days I spent rereading the file. It was only three pages, but I was determined to know the mission forward and backwards.

The mission was simple: Sayu and I would be the Yagami siblings, whose parents had just died in a tragic car accident. Apparently the orphanage, 'Wammy's House', had already been notified she had lost most of her memory. In order to get in, we had to take a two part exam. The first was a knowledge exam, which we needed to pass in order to gain acceptance, then we would travel to England where they would observe us to see in what area of the orphanage we belonged in. If you asked me, this seemed more like a university than an orphanage.

Since Sayu could only speak Japanese at the moment, I would act as her translator and 'memory maker' as I liked to call it. The Guardians had written an elaborate backstory about our lives that I had to memorize and tell Sayu if she ever asked any questions. The story was filled with detailed event from her 'life', such as birthday parties, made up friends, and schools that she attended. Memorizing the story would be simple.

The hardest part would be getting into the orphanage, but once we were in, we would stay there until it was safe to return. Hopefully, Sayu wouldn't regain her memories. The Guardians estimated that this mission should be over by Christmas. It was the middle of October.

_Two months?_ If Sayu got her memories before that, the mission would be jeopardized. Personally, I didn't want to lie to her. She deserved to know what happened to her family. But like Wedy said, I worked for them, I had no say.

Finally Saturday came and I was allowed to leave the hospital room for the first time in a week. My legs felt weak as I was escorted to another wing in the hospital to a small room. The inside of the room was empty except for a desk, a chair, and a man.

The man was on the older side, with white hair, but he had a friendly smile. "Light," he greeted in English. "My name is Quillish Wammy, you can call me Mr. Wammy, I'm glad you could make it today."

He offered me a handshake and I responded in English, "Thank you for taking the time to see me today."

"Your English is excellent, have you been learning it for some time?"

I nodded, "Since I was young,"

'Mr. Wammy' gestured for me to take a seat and pulled a chair to the opposite side. He sat down and cleared his throat, "That's very good to hear, if you are accepted to Wammy's House, English will be crucial to your learning. I know things have been difficult recently for you, I offer my sincere condolences for your loss."

At first, I wasn't sure how to react. Technically I hadn't 'lost' anyone, Lucian and Sayu had. But if I couldn't convince this man that I had just lost my parents, there was no way I'd manage to convince Sayu I was her brother.

So I gave him the best 'face-full-of-anguish' I could muster and looked down at my lap, "Thank you, but I'm just happy I still have my sister."

There, that sounds like something someone who had just lost their parents would say. According to the fake backstory I had been given, we were all in the car with our parents. The Guardians hadn't described the crash, so I hoped Mr. Wammy wouldn't ask.

Thankfully, he didn't and just gave me a sad look. "Yes, that way together, you two may endure whatever challenges you may face in the near future. As much as I hate doing this so soon Light, I'm afraid we must speak about serious matters.

"As you know, you and Sayu are now orphans, and will need a place to stay until you come of age. Typically you would be placed in an orphanage in your native country, but we were contacted by your caseworker who believe you and your sister might be _gifted_."

"So I'm guessing you're here to see if it's true?" I replied.

Mr. Wammy chuckled, "No, not really. Today you'll take an exam that will place you on a range so we can see if you'd fit in at Wammy's House, an orphanage for the gifted. I'm simply a proctor, ensuring you don't have an unfair advantage while you take this exam."

He opened a briefcase and took out several sheets of paper and placed it in front of me with a pencil, "Take your time, Light. There's no rush and even if you don't reach the range necessary to attend Wammy's, it doesn't mean you aren't a bright young man."

I stared down at the sheets before me and glanced at the first question. It showed a square being folded multiple times and asked for the number of shapes that would be created because due to the folding. The question itself wasn't difficult, it just took time for you to imagine the folding occurring.

"Um, could I ask you something before I begin?"

Mr. Wammy nodded, "Of course,"

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but my sister was just diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia. Although Wammy's House sounds fascinating, how will she be able to take this exam if she couldn't even remember her name?"

The Guardians said they would 'handle it', but that didn't mean I couldn't do a little digging around of my own. The Guardians only told me what they thought I should know, so might as well take matters in my own hands and find out what they wouldn't tell me.

"Yes I'm aware, and I'm sorry for this tragic news. But Light, I want to inform you something: Wammy's House is a _home_ for children. We would never want to force you to go and separate you from your sister, especially when she'll need you now more than ever. Because of this, I made the decision that if you reach the level necessary to be accepted into Wammy's, Sayu shall be accepted as well. We will test her at a later date because testing her now would not show an accurate measure of her intelligence." Mr. Wammy explained.

_So that's how they'll get her in_, I thought to myself. Of course the Guardians could count on me getting in, so Sayu losing her memory actually helped her in this case. Feeling more comfortable and relieved, I began the exam.

It wasn't difficult, but it did take up a lot of time. Almost all the questions were problem solving that you had to figure out in your head. But I enjoyed these types of questions because it made me think in new ways.

By the time I was finished, I had no idea how much time had passed. Mr. Wammy glanced down at my answer sheet and gave me a small smile,

"Did you find it simple?" he asked.

"No, but it wasn't difficult either. It was a little… _fun_." That was strange, finding exams fun.

Mr. Wammy kept giving me that same smile, like he felt sorry for me, but at the same time had great hope for me. "Good," he said, "I'll get back to you with the results as soon as possible. Please take care of yourself, Light."

oOo

_Dear Light Yagami,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as the newest student at Wammy's House! You have shown a great level of intelligence and we are sure you will continue grow and strengthen your talents here._

_We look forward to meeting you!_

_-The Wammy's House Family_

oOo

"We already packed everything you would need, Light." Wedy said, walking me through the hospital halls. "Each student is only allowed one suitcase and they have to be looked through before you're allowed in the orphanage, so the first day you'll be weaponless. But that night, I'll meet you by the gates and give you your equipment."

I nodded, fixing my collar for the hundredth time. I was anxious and for some reason, that calmed me.

"You two will arrive at Winchester around seven, so expect me to be outside the gates around eleven. Make sure you aren't caught, you don't want people to be suspecting you your first day." She continued.

I smoothed my collar this time; I couldn't tell Wedy how nervous I was. It had finally sunk in how much this mission depended on me.

Wedy stopped in front of a hospital door, "This is where I leave you Light, do you have any last questions?"

I exhaled sharply, "Does she still not remember anything?"

"Nothing," she responded, "it's been two weeks since the assassination of the Lefebvre's. At this point, doctors don't think she'll remember anything for a while, which only makes things easier." Wedy gave me one hard look before she started backing away, "You know your duty, Light. Just do as you're told and everything will go as planned."

I gave her one last nod before she vanished, leaving me alone in front of the door. This was the moment of truth; if something went wrong now, the whole mission was jeopardized. I lifted up my hand and knocked softly at the door, but received no answer. Thinking I had knocked too quietly, I knocked harder this time, but still received no answer.

Was she still asleep? No, that couldn't be right, we had to be at the airport in an hour. So I gave up on knocking and slowly opened the door, the smell of disinfectant hitting my nostrils. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see when I opened the door, maybe Sayu asleep and bedridden or laughing blissfully because she lost all her memories and didn't know what horrors had occurred.

But she wasn't she wasn't doing either.

Sayu was standing in front of a window, back facing me, humming softly to herself. She had her straight, brown hair up in a ponytail, different from her usual style of loose curls. She stood beside a suitcase, not reacting when I entered the room.

I cleared my throat, "Sayu?"

When she turned around to face me, I was completely caught off guard. Sayu had always been a pretty and charming young woman, but never had I seen her so _broken_. Her eyes were sad and lifeless, even her skin was paler than usual. She looked changed, like this experience had aged her. Sayu no longer looked like the sweet, innocent girl I had come known.

But suddenly, her eyes widened and she gasped. "Onii-san?" She gave me a look like she recognized me, but at the same time, wasn't sure. As she spoke, her eyes had a gleam of hope, and she didn't look as broken as before.

That was all it took for me to walk across the room and wrap my arms around her, giving her a hug. I wasn't fond of hugs, but after seeing her face, I knew she needed one. The hug was a little awkward since she had a sling on one of her arms, but I could hear her laughing in my chest.

"Onii-san, when the doctors said you were fine, I couldn't believe it!" she laughed, her face full of joy. "I didn't understand why you wouldn't visit me and I started to worry that they had lied so I wouldn't feel alone. But I'm not alone—oh, I'm so happy!"

The ending sounded exactly like the last words she told Lucian. She didn't want him to sacrifice his life because she feared being alone in this world.

"Please onii-san, tell me your name, I've forgotten." She continued.

I stiffened, this was the moment of truth. "Light, my name is Light."

She frowned slightly, but then smiled. "Light? It sounds a little familiar… but I can't remember. I can't really remember anything, not even mother or father." Her tone got softer by the end, and I could see the pain seeping back in her eyes.

I gently ruffled her side bangs and said, "Don't worry Sayu, you'll get your memory back." Hopefully, not soon. "But we have to get to the airport, once we're on the plane, I'll tell you all about mom and dad."

This made her beam brightly at me, "Yes, you're right! But Light, where are we going? Don't we have any family here in Japan?"

"No Sayu, we don't. But everything will be fine now, I promise."

She turned and stared out at the window with a small smile. "It doesn't matter where we go, I know mother and father will protect us. They did it once before." She murmured softly to herself.

I exhaled quietly as she went to get her jacket; she had bought the lie. She believed I was her brother 'Light Yagami' and had no recollection of the real me, the Guardian me. Now that I had gotten into Wammy's House and Sayu believed we were siblings, everything would go smoothly from here.

Or so I thought.

oOo

The letter W popped up on a black computer screen.

"L," a slightly computerized voice said, "we managed to get a picture of the person who snuck into the institution last week."

L stirred his tea as an image of a woman with blonde hair and sunglasses appeared on the screen. The woman was shown jumping over the iron clad gates, dressed in all black.

"We do not know who she is yet, but from the evidence we've gathered, there's reason to believe she's a member of the _Guardians_. She likely broke in on a mission from her superiors."

The 'Guardians'. L had heard of their name only a few times in the past, but had only recently become interested with their association. After several wealthy and powerful families had been assassinated last week, he'd managed to find links between the families and the Guardians.

Could it be possible that these Guardians were the ones killing these wealthy families? Could they be targeting him next? At the moment, L didn't know, but he was determined to catch this woman with the sunglasses. She obviously knew what was going on.

"L," the voice from the computer continued, "What is your next move?"

L took a sip from his tea and stared at the girl's picture one last time before saying, "Find out who this woman is and why she snuck into Wammy's."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Next chapter takes place at Wammy's House and we start to meet the other characters ^.^ Please review if you're interested in me continuing this story!**


	3. Orphans

**A/N: Thank you so much for the review guys ^.^ I thought no one liked my idea or thought this story was just too confusing, but your reviews encouraged me to go on! **

**Enjoy! I apologize in advance for any mistakes, exams are really making my mind fuzzy =_=**

* * *

><p>I often found myself remembering the day the Lefebvre's were assassinated.<p>

One certain memory kept replaying in my head, the moment when I thought to myself how I wasn't ready to die because I hadn't gotten the opportunity to truly experience life. Up until that moment, I never knew how much I actually cared about leaving the estate and possibly doing something more. But now?

I was about to go to a different _country_.

Although this was a mission, I felt _excited_. On our way to the airport, I would find myself fidgeting or the corners of my mouth would twitch as I tried not to show my happiness. There had to be something wrong with me, how could I be happy after I had witnessed murder? But there was no denying the anticipation I felt.

We had taken a taxi (which was driven by a disguised Guardian) and arrived at the airport around seven in the morning. Our flight left at eight and we would arrive in Winchester at eight in the evening. As we walked through the airport, my Guardian side took over and I walked a little behind Sayu so I could keep an eye on her as I scanned our surroundings.

"There are so many people," Sayu said, looking a little uncomfortable.

She was right; there were people bustling from left to right, their luggage trailing behind them. It made it hard to look for possible signs of danger because everything seemed to be moving. This left me tense until we had passed through customs and had finally boarded the plane.

Sayu and I had been given seats next to each other, in First Class. Even though the plane should be safe, I couldn't stop myself from constantly glancing around for any signs of danger.

"Light?"Sayu said, tugging my sleeve. "Why do you keep looking around? Are you afraid of planes?"

I had been so focused on being in 'Guardian-Mode', I had forgotten I also had to be in 'Brother-Mode' around Sayu. "A little," I lied to avoid any more questions.

She gave me a smile, "So onii-san is afraid of heights… I'll remember that from now on."

Even though I wasn't, I figured there was no harm in letting her believe that. I guess that was another interesting part of the mission, being able to create Light Yagami into any person I wanted. I could make myself outgoing and charismatic or distant and introverted.

The plane took off and Sayu and I didn't speak for a while. We had a window seat, which Sayu spent most of the time staring out at. I relished in the silence and peace, because God knows once we landed, those two things would be rare.

It wasn't for a few hour later did I notice Sayu had a slight grimace on her face and she looked like she was in pain. "What's the matter?" I said, "Does your shoulder hurt?" They hadn't prescribed Sayu any medicine, or else they would've notified me.

"No, it's nothing…" she trailed on, staring down at her lap.

Normally, I would've let it go and not pushed her anymore. Being a Guardian, I knew it wasn't my place to get in her business. But I wasn't just her Guardian anymore, and I could tell from her face something was on her mind.

"Doesn't seem like nothing." I replied. Thankfully, Sayu wasn't a hard person to get to speak. If something was bothering her, she was usually very vocal about it.

"I feel awful, Light," she sighed. "Since the moment I woke up, I've been _happy_. I should be grieving the loss of our parents, but I can't because I can't even remember their faces. When I hear the word 'parents' it sounds foreign to me and it frustrates me because how could I forget them?"

I wanted to tell Sayu I could relate in a way; I hadn't lost anyone who I could consider family except Madame Jacqueline, the Lefebvre cook, so I was struggling to appear as a 'mourning child'. But I couldn't tell that to Sayu without the risk of triggering her memories. So I went with a different approach.

"Sayu, no one expects you to regain your memory in a day. Just because you don't remember our parents, doesn't make you a bad person."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?" she muttered.

I was starting to feel guilty as well because honestly, I didn't _want_ her to regain her memories. The main reason was because I didn't want her to have the memory of her father and brother being killed in front of her. But another part of me, the more selfish part, didn't want her to jeopardize the mission.

I wasn't even a full-fledged Guardian and I was allowed on a solo mission, something that _never_ occurred. It was the perfect opportunity to show my superiors what I was capable of especially now that I was known as the only surviving Guardian of the Lefebvre family. They would be watching me closely and if I failed this mission they would remember how I failed to protect Lucian as well.

I wondered if Sayu could see what an awful person _I _was for not wanting her to regain her memories. Nevertheless, I gave her the best 'brotherly' smile I could muster and said, "Don't think about it Sayu, everything will be fine. How about we practice your English? You'll really need it once we get to England."

This cheered Sayu up and she eagerly nodded, "Okay! I'll start, _hello_."

"_Hello," _I responded in English. "_How are you today_?

"_I'm_ _Sayu_," She answered proudly.

I frowned slightly. "Uh, no, I said _how are you_?"

She blinked at me. "Sayu,"

I gave her a tight smile, "Maybe we should work on introductions..."

oOo

We arrived at Southampton Airport late in the evening.

Sayu was exhausted and her shoulder was hurting, but that didn't kill her excitement. I wasn't sure what we would do once we got here or how we would get to the orphanage, but thankfully, there was a man standing with a sign that read, _Light & Sayu Yagami._

He smiled warmly at us and said he was our chauffeur. I was a little surprised, what orphanage had their own chauffeur? Weren't orphanages always depicted in movies as run down and questionable? But the chauffeur was polite and helped us with our luggage as he guided us to a shiny, black escalade that looked like it was just purchased.

The chauffeur opened the door for us and even put our luggage away, making me feel strange. I had never been waited on before and preferred to be independent, so I felt odd not doing anything but sitting and watching.

"Wow, look at that park, Light!" Sayu exclaimed, pressing her face against the window as the car went down a road.. I glanced out and saw a park with lights hanging in the air, giving the illusion that the stars were practically within reach.

"It's nice," I agreed, staring out at it.

After we had passed the park, we drove for about twenty more minutes until large gates came to view. I wasn't sure what I had expected, maybe something similar to a boarding school, but this was something else.

Within the walls was a grand building, not nearly as big as the Lefebvre estate, but still an impressive size. The building's architecture was dated, but there was a marbled fountain in the front and plenty of greenery to liven it up a bit.

The car parked in front of the double doors of the building where Mr. Wammy was standing, waiting for us.

"I hope you two had a safe trip," he greeted with a warm smile. "You must be Sayu, I didn't get the chance to meet you during my first visit, I'm Mr. Wammy. How are you sweetheart?"

He spoke in Japanese, but Sayu still looked a little nervous. "I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"And you, Light? I hope you've been well since I last saw you."

I nodded, "Yes, thank you for accepting us to this school."

Mr. Wammy beckoned for us to follow. "It's our honor to have you two, now come along, it's late and I'm sure you're both exhausted. Don't worry about your luggage, it'll be brought up to your rooms."

From what Wedy had explained to me, they would search through our luggage. Because of that, I couldn't carry hidden weapons on me (or I'm sure she would've found a way to smuggle it on the plane). Wedy had said to meet her outside the gates around eleven, but I wasn't sure how I'd sneak out. I guess I'd have to worry about that later.

"This is Wammy's House," Mr. Wammy said, guiding us through the halls. "It's an orphanage, but also a school for the gifted. Since tomorrow is Sunday and there's no school, I'll assign you a student to give you the full tour because I'm sure it would be much more enjoyable than with an old man like me." He gave us a small smile which caused Sayu to laugh.

I tried to look engrossed in what he was saying, but I was too busy memorizing our surroundings. If there was any way I'd be meeting Wedy tonight, I had to at least know my way out.

"I founded this school for children who show extraordinary talents, whether it be intellectually, artistically, musically, or even socially. You'll see that with some of the students here, they might struggle with classes and exams, but give them a paint brush and you'll be calling them van Gogh." he chuckled.

This would be good for Sayu; even before she lost her memories, she probably couldn't get into this school based on intellect alone. She may be smart, but what one may consider smart may be average in this school. But she played the violin very well, so maybe they could consider her musically gifted.

The orphanage itself was actually very nice. There were pictures on the walls of children during various holidays, vases filled with flowers, and dozens of rooms. We passed one that looked like a library with plenty of books. There was another room—most likely a playroom- with a rocking horse, toys overflowing in a treasure chest, and board games. Everything was nicely furnished and didn't seem like a stereotypical rundown orphanage.

"Right in here, you two can have a seat." Mr. Wammy said, opening the door to a study. It was a small room with brown bookshelves that covered nearly every inch of the walls. There was also a window with drawn curtains, giving the room a gloomy feel.

Mr. Wammy sat across from us in a desk and had two files before us. "I know you two must be tired, but there is a few things I want to get through before I let you two retire for the evening. First of all, names. We do ask all the children to pick a name they'd like to go by. This will also be the name on all your official records, so once you leave, the name will be on your birth certificate, license, you get the point."

Names? Why did we need new names? I didn't mind it too much, I just found it a little… _odd_. What kind of orphanage was this?

Sayu, on the other hand, took this badly. "A new name? No, I can't!" her eyes became wide with panic as she pleaded. "Please, don't make me."

Mr. Wammy was taken back, "Why ever not? Isn't it exciting? You get to choose your own name. It can be anything you like."

"Then I choose Sayu." She stated. "I've lost everything, sir, my name is all that I have. Please don't make me lose that too."

Once again, I felt bad for her. If only she knew what she really _had_ lost.

Mr. Wammy looked conflicted before nodding, "Alright, how about we make a compromise? Normally, we ask students to address each other by their alias, simply because it's easier for the younger children to get used to it while their young, but considering you two are on the older side, you shouldn't have a problem reacting to your alias I suppose.

"So how about we do this: you two will choose an alias that will be on all official papers, but at Wammy's, you may go by your real names. There are two conditions, though: first, whenever you leave this building, you go by your alias and second, you must not tell any of the students that Light and Sayu are your real names. They will just believe it is your alias for the time being."

This caused Sayu to calm down, "Thank you, but does my alias have to be in English?"

"It can be in any language, it doesn't even have to be a name."

"Hmm, then what about Ai?" she said thoughtfully. Mr. Wammy nodded and wrote it down on a sheet of paper and then glanced up at me.

A new name? Part of me wanted to say Lucian, in honor of my first ward that I had failed to protect. But that was too risky, what if when I said the name, Sayu remembered her brother? So I said the next name to come up to mind.

"Lucius,"

Mr. Wammy grinned and wrote it down while chuckling softly. "Very well, now that we have names covered, we'll have to talk about classes. You'll receive your schedules tomorrow before your tour. Light, based on your exam score, we've placed you in classes that fit your results. Since you haven't taken the exam yet, Sayu, we put you in basic classes based on your age. You're caseworker also selected some electives she thought you two might enjoy. If you dislike them, however, you can change them."

"Last thing before we wrap up," he said, "we must discuss rules. Now we might encourage the students to express themselves, but this is still a school, so we ask that the students not dress in any attire that's offensive or inappropriate. The dress code isn't implemented to hold you back, we just ask the students to dress appropriately. Next rule is about curfew.

"School is in session from nine to two, Monday through Friday. Afterwards you're free to do whatever you like, within the institution, but you must be in your rooms by ten. Fridays through Sundays you can get permission to leave, but you must fill out a request and if you are under the age of sixteen, you must go with a companion, if you are under the age of thirteen, you must go with an adult chaperone. The curfew for the weekends is extended until eleven. We are not very strict about what you do outside school hours, just be sure to be present for lunch and dinner for attendance unless you've been excused. Any questions?"

Sayu and I shook our heads, but I was already getting anxious. I was supposed to meet Wedy _at_ eleven tonight, and since today was a Saturday, that meant the curfew _was_ eleven. I had no idea how'd I'd manage to meet with her.

"The last major rule has to do with students. We all see each other as family here at Wammy's House, therefore we do not tolerate any fighting amongst each other. Fighting will result in punishment and if any student receives too many demerits, expulsion is the punishment. We've never had to expel a student before, but do know if you sneak out, cheat on exams, do anything of that kind of nature, you will lose many privileges. Understood?" he said in a stern tone. I could tell he was a nice man, but when it came to trouble, he would have zero tolerance.

But I wasn't worried yet, it just meant I would have to be even more careful.

"I'm sure I've kept you two long enough, and it's nearing ten now. Are either of you hungry?" we shook our heads no and Mr. Wammy nodded, touching a small button and speaking into a microphone. "Roger, could you please send Linda in?"

'Linda' must've been close, because only seconds later, a girl walked in. She had a small pointed nose and sharp gray eyes that flashed upon seeing Sayu. Linda was dressed in a frilly, pink night gown and had short auburn hair.

"Sayu, this is Linda, your roommate. She's been studying Japanese, so I'm sure you two could help each other out." Mr. Wammy said giving both girls a smile.

Linda beamed at Sayu, "Wow, you're really pretty!"

Sayu blushed in embarrassment, "Oh thank you…"

"Come on I'll show our room," Linda glanced over and smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Linda."

I gave her a smile—one that would make her think I was just a typical teenage boy. "I'm Light,"

"Light…" she said, her cheeks reddening "Well, I hope we can meet again soon. Come on, Sayu, you're probably tired."

Linda guided Sayu out of the room, but her eyes were on me the whole time. _That was strange_, certainly she can't suspect me just from a smile? But this also left me uneasy; Sayu was being taken away by a stranger, if she were attacked, there was no way I could help her.

"I hope you aren't disappointed, but our older students don't have roommates. You can request one, but most students enjoy having their own room." Mr. Wammy said standing up, "Here, I'll show you you're room. I have great hope you for you, Light."

Ha, like I haven't heard that one before

**Sayu**

"And that's your side, maybe next weekend we can go shopping for some décor for your side of the room." Linda said excitedly. Either she spoke really fast or everything just sounded fast, but I was having trouble understanding her. I had picked up 'shopping' and 'weekend' so I figured she wanted me to go shopping.

"Okay," I answered, hoping that was an appropriate response.

Our room was small with two beds at either end, a closet, two dressers, and two desks. Because of all the furniture, everything was squished together so we barely had 'sides'. Somehow Linda had managed to fit a paint easels and many paintings on her side.

Someone had already brought my suitcase up and my bed had even been made. I sat down on the bed, feeling the mattress sink from beneath me.

"So what happened to your arm?" Linda asked, plopping down on her bed across from me.

"Uh, I dislocated it," I said slowly, "car accident."

She gasped, "Oh my, don't tell me that's how you became an orphan." I nodded and she covered her mouth with her hands. "You poor thing, was that your brother?"

I nodded, "Yes, brother,"

"How old are you?"

I was about to say 'good', but quickly realized what she was asking. "Fourteen,"

"Only a year younger than me, so we might have some classes together. Tomorrow I can help you unpack then give you a tour, I'll even introduce you to my friends if you want."

"Thank you, you're so nice," I answered with a smile. "Why? You don't know me."

Were all people like her? Linda had called me pretty without evening knowing who I was and now offered to unpack and let me meet her friends.

She gave me a small smile. "Because we're family now, Sayu."

This made my head hurt slightly and my stomach twist in pain. Whenever I heard the word 'family', I would feel nauseous for no reason. I figured it was the guilt for not being able to remember my parents. I couldn't tell Light how much that bothered me, I don't think he would understand. It's not like he couldn't remember our parents or his childhood.

"Family…" I said quietly to myself as my head pounded.

**Light**

It was 10:54pm when I left my room.

The orphanage had several levels and my room just so happened to be near the top floor. I didn't see any children as we walked there, but I saw classrooms and even nurseries which I found funny. Like how did they judge if a baby was gifted? On its ability to make different gurgling noises?

My room was small, but I liked it. Empty with neutral colors, it had a small bed, desk, and drawer inside. Mr. Wammy gave me a key and showed me the bathroom at the end of the hall before saying goodnight and leaving me alone. I had spent the next hour or so taking a hot shower and trying to figure out how I would get to the gates. The shower had relaxed me; after the long plane ride, the hot water brought me at ease.

Now dressed with my hair still damp, I left my room and glanced down the dark hallway. The lights were off so I quickly made my way through, taking the flight of stairs down a level. I had counted and my room was on the fifth floor, so I had quite a few staircases to go down.

From years of training, I knew how to maneuver soundlessly and made it to the main floor without running into anyone. Going through the front doors would be too obvious, so I went through two swinging doors that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was large, similar to how a restaurant kitchen looks like, all silver appliances and shiny countertops, but it also had a glass back door.

"Please don't be locked…" I muttered, testing the knob. Unlocked.

Mr. Wammy had said curfew was at eleven, maybe that's when all the doors locked. Hopefully not, or else I would be locked outside for the night. Just in case, I propped a trashcan in between the door and the frame to keep it opened.

After one final glance to make sure no one was following me, I left the through the back door and began to make my way by the gates. From where I had left, I could see a tennis court nearby, a closed pool, and what appeared to be a football field.

_Geez, is this an orphanage or a resort? _I thought to myself. Wedy hadn't specified where we'd meet, so I decided to walk around the perimeter while hiding near the shrubs to stay hidden. Why had Wedy been so vague? This was already dangerous enough.

"Took you long enough," a voice said from behind me.

I didn't panic, once I heard a voice, I never forgot it. "What are you talking about Wedy? You said eleven,"

"Did I?" She said, "Hmm, must've slipped my mind."

I stealthy approached the voice until I saw her appear from the shadows. Dressed in all black with sunglasses, Wedy was leaning against the iron fence, holding something black in her hand.

"We don't have much time so here," Wedy continue, handing me the small black case. It was about the size of a notebook. "In here is everything you could possibly need while undercover. Money, credit cards, ricin, you name it."

"Ricin?" I choked, "Why would I need ricin? We're living as orphans, not planning an assassination."

She ignored my comment and said, "Only use these in case of an emergency. If someone begins to suspect you, contact me using the phone inside the case. It's untraceable and no one can intercept your calls, so don't worry about someone finding out. How's Sayu?"

"In her room," I answered. I wondered if Wedy would disapprove of me not being with Sayu constantly, but that would be impossible here.

Wedy didn't seem to mind and nodded. "Good, make sure to keep an eye out for her, but don't make it too obvious. The keyword in this mission is '_siblings_'. Well, I should get going, I'll check in next month unless you need me sooner—"

"Wait, what?" I interrupted. "You aren't coming back for a month?"

She gave me a funny look. "I've been assigned on the team to find the assassins. We have a lead and I'm going to follow it."

For some reason, this made me feel slightly irritated. "If you don't come back for a month, how am I supposed to stay updated on the mission? Besides, I _saw_ the assassins, I can help outside of just being Sayu's Guardian."

Even though the Lefebvre's had been killed, I was still determined on avenging Lucian. I owed him for my life and yes, I would protect Sayu, but I was set on finding the men who had murdered innocent people.

But Wedy just laughed. "Oh Light, how stupid are you? You aren't part of this mission, you had one job and you failed at that. This mission is for _real_ Guardians with _real_ talent, not teenage boys with hormones. Sorry, but your job is to stay here and watch Sayu, got it?"

I forced myself to remain calm and just gave her a dark look. "That obviously explains how I'm alive right now and the 'real' Guardians are dead under the debris of a mansion."

"It's a pity you weren't buried with them," Wedy said with a slight smirk. "Now we're stuck with a useless Guardian-in-training that belongs to no sanction because his sanction was enilated."

"If you hate me so much, why didn't you just kill me in the hospital?" I retorted, my anger boiling.

"Trust me, if it were up to me you would've never woken up. But since you're here, might as well make you useful."

I gritted my teeth, "So I'm just the babysitter."

She shrugged, "Well if you like that title. But don't take it too hard, it's your chance to socialize, meet new people. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

She used a tone like she was speaking to a puppy. Part of me was infuriated that the people I devoted my life to saw me so disposable. But another part, the more sensible part, knew anger wouldn't get what I wanted. Like Wedy said, I was just a stupid teenager in their eyes. I could spend the rest of the night trying to prove Wedy wrong, but it wouldn't make a difference. Not now, not ever.

That's when an idea came to mind, and I felt a smile creep on my lips. "You're right Wedy, I shouldn't get in your way. Well goodnight, I should get back before they notice I left."

My words left Wedy surprised; I guess she was anticipating a fight out of me. But I was done fighting for them. I turned away and started walking towards the kitchen door, my mind racing with ideas. I couldn't quit the Guardians, it wasn't a job, it was my _life_. But that didn't mean I couldn't do what I wanted under the radar.

So I made a vow at that moment. I would find the men who killed the Lefebvre's not just for Lucian, but for Sayu. I would find them before the Guardians and I'd do it all while protecting Sayu and being a 'teenager'. The Guardians would regret the day they underestimated me.

When I returned to the backdoor to go inside, I felt a chill go down my spine. The trashcan propping the door open was gone. My worst fear was realized when I tried turning the knob and it didn't open, just like I had predicted, the doors were locked.

Panic rushed through my body as I tried to think of how to get inside. I had to remain calm, this building was huge, there had to be another way in. Besides, Wedy had given me a case with tools and weapons, certainly there was _something _I could—

Suddenly, the back door opened, causing light to stream out from the kitchen. Leaning on the door frame was a boy with awfully long blond hair and a chocolate bar.

He took a bite from his chocolate bar, _crack_. "What do you think you're doing?"

I gave him a neutral look and said casually. "I was just coming back in."

The blond gave me a dubious look. "Oh yeah? You do realize it's after curfew?"

"I'm new, I didn't know." I said stiffly. If I didn't act like I was doing something wrong, he wouldn't assume. That's what I've always been taught.

The boy gave me a hard look before saying. "The doors lock at eleven, next time be sure to get back in time or else I'll have to report you."

I could tell he was bluffing and only trying to intimidate me, but I didn't like being threatened, especially by people who didn't know what a threat I could be.

I stepped through the doors and stopped to look at him, noticing for the first time his outfit. He was wearing a leather vest with matching pants and a rosary. Hardly 'sleep attire' if you asked me.

"Nice outfit," I commented, "Planning to go to sleep in that? Or heading somewhere else?"

The boy took another bite of his candy bar and gave me a smirk. "You wouldn't want me as an enemy."

My stare didn't quiver. "Then I suppose we stay out of each other's way."

I finally broke from our challenging stare and made my way back to my room like nothing had happened. Honestly, what had just happened wasn't wise on my part. I shouldn't be making enemies, but if he was smart, he wouldn't test me either. On another note, Wedy had said to socialize, she never said to befriend them.

When I was safely back in my room, I took the small, black case from under my shirt to examine the contents. Inside were three small poison knives, several vials of liquid, credit cards, and a phone. This black case was too dangerous to keep hidden under my bed or in my drawer. I would have to come up with an even more creative hiding spot.

I went over to my computer desk and yanked out the whole top drawer. Looks like I'd be staying up late tonight.

* * *

><p>L stared at the security cameras again, puzzled. He saw the boy walk out, approach the gates, and then the camera went pitch black for a couple minutes then went back on.<p>

It was two in the morning and ever since L had seen that woman entering Wammy's, he'd been checking the cameras religiously. He hadn't seen anything suspicious since the mysterious Blonde Woman, up until now. This boy, a new student, had left only a few minutes before curfew and right as he approached the fence, the security camera went down.

A coincidence? Possibly.

But L didn't believe in coincidences and he was determined to find out what this new student was up to.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review^.^<strong>


	4. Liar

**A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! To everyone who takes the time to review, I'm extremely grateful, the fact that you do makes me so happy! Thank you ^.^ To everyone who reads, follows, etc. thank you for your continuous support, you all inspire me to write more!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Hi, I'm Light Yagami. Up until this day, I never had a friend—or a last name. I spent the majority of my life learning different methods of killing people in painful <em>and<em> non-painful ways. I am now undercover on a secret mission with my not-real-sister who also happens to be my ward. I also have ricin. Let's be friends." I said to myself in the mirror.

Yeah, that introduction was obviously going to make me _tons_ of friends. Or get me locked up in a mental asylum.

I sighed in defeat and moved away from the mirror; forget fitting in, I could worry about that later. After a long night constructing the hiding spot for the black case Wedy had given me the other day, I wanted nothing more than to sleep in. But today I was getting the full tour and I needed to be as alert as possible. The better I knew this building, the easier everything would be.

Right on cue, I heard a knock at my door. After glancing around to ensure there was nothing incriminating lying around, I opened the door. Standing in my doorway, staring at an electronic device, was a boy about my age, with burgundy hair and a striped shirt.

"Hey," he said, lifting his googles from his eyes and extended his other hand. "I'm Matt,"

Maybe now would be the perfect time to test out the lovely introduction I had made. "Light," I answered, shaking his hand.

"Well Light, Wammy assigned me with the task of being your honorary tour guide. He also said you knew English, _but I can speak in Japanese if it's easier for you_."

I fought the urge to laugh. If only he knew how many languages I actually knew. "No, it's fine. I'm fluent in English."

Matt looked relieved. "Thank God, I never really paid attention in my Japanese classes. So are you ready to go?"

I shot a quick glance at my room to make sure one last time there was nothing suspicious before nodding, "Yes,"

I followed Matt out into the elevator as he spoke and played on his electronic device that seemed to be some kind of game. "So how old are you?"

"Seventeen,"

He glanced up at me and smiled, "Cool, me too. Anyways, I was looking at your schedule and saw that we have Computer Science, Forensics, and Foreign Relations together. So I guess we'll start our tour with those. Oh, almost forgot, you might need this."

Matt handed me a sheet of blue paper that had my name, room information, and schedule on it. According to my schedule, my classes alternated by day. One day, I would have all academic classes, while the other, I would have all elective classes.

My Academic Day classes were Calculus V, American Literature, Environmental Science, and World Religions. My Elective Day classes were Computer Science, Forensics, and Foreign Relations, and according to the schedule, all three of the classes were located in the same room.

"You wouldn't happen to know my sister's schedule, would you?" I asked tentatively. It was normal for a brother to be curious about his sister's classes, correct? I didn't want him to start getting suspicious about me on my first day.

But Matt didn't seem to notice anything. "I'm afraid not, but you'll probably see her in the dining hall for breakfast."

The elevator door opened to the first floor and I was surprised to see children. For some strange, ridiculous reason, I had forgotten that there would be _children_ in an _orphanage_. So when I saw them, it threw me off a bit. Maybe because when I had arrived last night, everywhere was deserted.

But now, the orphanage was animated and full of noise. Children, mostly dressed in similar attire, ran around, laughing with each other as they made their way down the halls and to other rooms.

"Matt! Wanna play?" a girl with brown skin and curly black hair said, running up with a board game.

"Sorry Doll, I'm on a secret mission for Mr. Wammy, no time to play today."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Liar,"

Matt chuckled and patted her head, "Go find Near, he's always playing with puzzles."

The girl tugged one of her curls and stared at me. "Who's he?"

I cleared my throat and gave her my best 'average-teenage-boy' smile. "Good morning, I'm Light."

"I'm Doll," she tilted her head and gave me a curious look. "Is Sayu your sister?"

I was surprised she already knew Sayu. "Yes, have you met her?"

"You're lying,"

I was taken aback by her response, "Excuse me?"

"I said you're _lying_," Doll repeated.

Without thinking, my mind went into Guardian-Mode. The fact that this girl, who couldn't be older than ten, didn't believe me when I said Sayu was my sister made me anxious. It also made her a threat. She had no reason to doubt us, she didn't even know us. Aiber had said it himself, if anyone became suspicious, Wedy would handle it—

Suddenly, I came to my senses. _What was I doing_? Panicking just because a little girl claimed I was _lying_? I couldn't go around thinking everyone who doubted our story was a likely threat. My job was to protect Sayu, not eliminate anyone who didn't believe us.

So instead I laughed at the girl and said, "Well last time I checked, she was my sister."

Doll didn't laugh. "You should check again."

Before I could come up with a reply, Matt interrupted. "Ignore her, Light. The more you entertain her, the longer she'll stay. Doll, we're busy, go find something to do."

Doll sighed heavily before saying, "Fine, you two are no fun." And she skipped away.

"Sorry about that," Matt apologized. "Doll is weird, but we should continue now."

I nodded and followed Matt through the halls. As we walked, he pointed out certain rooms and made comments. Apparently the whole first floor was separated in two wings. One wing was dedicated to living areas and the other wing were educational areas. There were also five other levels in the orphanage for bedrooms, two for female living quarters, two for male.

"What about the top floor?" I asked as Matt explained this.

"Off limits, no students are allowed on the sixth floor." Matt said sternly. "Don't even think about it. Wammy and Roger don't impose too many rules, but if you're caught on the sixth floor, anticipate losing all privileges for at least a month. Maybe more."

This pricked my interests. According to Wedy, this orphanage was by far the safest place for Sayu. Until the assassins that killed Lefebvre's were caught, we were stuck here. But I was determined to solve this crime on my own, before the Guardians. That would be hard with a curfew and cameras around every corner. However, if my theory was correct, the security room must be on sixth floor. If I could at least verify this, I would have the ability to enter and leave the building freely.

"What do you think is up there?" I asked casually.

Matt shrugged, "Probably an unused floor. Maybe a ghost. Why? Scared?"

I grinned. "No, _curious_."

He continued showing me around, including places like the dining hall. It was only eight in the morning, so most of the children awake and eating were young. The warm aroma of food made me stomach twist, but I ignored it.

"This is the media room," Matt said, opening the door to a room with a large projector screen on the wall, bean bags on the ground, and an array of electronic systems. The room was big, big enough to fit dozens of people inside.

"Every week we have an activity, typically on Friday or Saturday. Usually the activity is movie night, but sometimes it might be a party or a field trip, it all depends. Each week has a different theme, this week it's Halloween, so we're having a horror movie night and a costume party." Matt explained, shutting the doors.

He showed me a few other rooms, like Mr. Wammy's office and the kitchen (which I had already seen from last night's adventures) before taking me to the Educational Wing. The classrooms were like typical schools, except the rooms had round tables instead of desks and electric boards instead of traditional chalk boards.

Matt showed me to each of my classes and told me all about my professors—who was nice, who was strict, which ones were easy graders, etc. This area of the tour bore me, that is, until we reached my Elective classroom.

"Like I said earlier, we have Forensics, Computer Science, and Foreign Relations together, well this is the room." He said, opening the door to a mostly empty room. It only had a table with four laptops and four black chairs. On the screen of three of the laptops were letters: _M, N, _and _m_.

"We're in this room Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's. Morning until afternoon."

The room was dull and had nothing except the table with laptops. This made me slightly suspicious, considering all the other classroom had enough room for at least fifteen students. Why did this room only have four seats?

"You said those classes were electives, meaning I choose them, correct?" Matt nodded and I continued. "I don't recall ever choosing any of these classes."

"I know, according to your original schedule, you chose gardening, string instruments, and painting." Matt gave me a funny look, like he struggled not laugh. "No offense, but I didn't take you for the gardening type. Anyways, as you can see, you weren't placed in those classes."

The Guardians obviously chose those classes for me. There was no way I'd ever willing take gardening. "Why not? Why do I have to take these classes instead?"

"The electives you were placed in are… _special_. Meaning, students can't choose to be in them. You are _selected_ to be in these classes." Matt explained. From his eyes, I knew he was hiding something, but Matt quickly lowered his goggles back on his eyes.

"Selected for what? I'm not even interested in Forensics." I questioned. What was the point of electives if they only disregarded what I wanted?

Matt turned away, "You'll see tomorrow. Just wait, trust me, you were chosen for a reason. Maybe it's time for breakfast, you're probably hungry."

I hesitated before following him. I knew something wasn't right.

**Sayu**

_Light turned to smile at me. "Good morning Sayu,"_

_ "Are you going to see father? Could I come too?" I asked, smiling at Light and… Light again? This made no sense, why was I staring at two Lights?_

_ The first Light, the one with a wide smile said, "Sure," and began to lead the way down the exquisite hallway with a large window that showed a garden with roses. I followed Light, confused at the strangely familiar surroundings. _

_ As I walked, I saw my reflection in the window—a girl in a short, frilly, pink dress with her hair curled and decorated with ribbons. Everything about my appearance looked so delicate and fragile, this couldn't be me. _

_ I kept walking beside Light, who smiled and spoke rapidly, while the other, more morbid Light, followed behind me, not speaking. He looked away, lost in his own world. I wanted to know why the other Light was so sad, why he didn't speak._

_ "Damn it, he's still in a meeting." Light said, when we reached the doors to the office. The doors were glass, so you could see the inside._

_ Suddenly my heart started racing and my head began to pound. I backed away shaking and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see what would happen next, something bad was going to happen, I could feel it._

_ "Open your eyes, Sayu." Someone said, I wasn't sure which Light said it since I refused to open my eyes._

_ "Don't you want to see what you've forgotten?" another voice said. My hands were shaking so hard, I wrapped them around my body just so they would stop._

_ "No," I whispered. "I'm not ready." Ready for what? What didn't I want to see?_

_ Someone spoke close to my ear, "It's your fault, you're the one they want—"_

"No!" I screamed, sitting up so fast, my head spun.

Linda was sitting beside me on my bed, looking scared, "Sayu, calm down, it was just a bad dream."

A bad dream? She meant a nightmare. I believed dreams were trying to tell you something, it might be what you're afraid of or what you desire, but I had no idea what this dream was.

I rubbed my eyes and took a slow breath. "I'm sorry if I woke you," I apologized, hoping I hadn't confused any words in English.

But Linda seemed to understand and shook her head. "I was already awake, you want to talk about your dream?"

I bit my lip wondering if telling someone would put me at ease. But I quickly thought against it. "No, it's okay."

Linda nodded and stood up, "Alright, but if you want to talk, I'm right here. Since you're awake, I imagine you're hungry and want something to eat."

I felt my stomach growl and nodded, laughing nervously, "Yes, if you don't mind."

"How about you go get ready and once you're done, we'll go get breakfast and then I'll give you the tour."

I nodded and got up, shaking off the anxious feeling the nightmare left me. I left our room and went to the bathroom that every girl in the hallway shared. I had yet to meet anyone, except for Linda, so I was interested in seeing how the others girls acted. Mostly, I was afraid they wouldn't like me or find me stupid for not being able to speak English well.

Forgetting my manners, I opened the unlocked bathroom door without knocking, surprised to see a little girl buttoning up her dress.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Even though we were both girls and she was young, probably a few years younger than me, I still felt embarrassed. My embarrassment only heightened my fear of speaking English improperly, so I stopped speaking.

The girl, however, didn't seem to mind. She cocked her head to the side and smiled at me, "I've never seen you before, you must be new."

"Uh, yes, new." I gave her a nervous smile, unsure if she already thought badly of me for invading her privacy. But she seemed like a nice girl with her wide smile and her curly hair in two pigtails. She had brown skin with matching brown eyes that looked very sweet, but at the same time, calculating.

The girl only smiled wider at me, "My name is Doll,"

"Doll?" I mimicked, "You mean like an actual… _doll_?"

"No, I mean Doll, like my name. What's your name?"

"Sayu,"

"That's pretty, just like you."

I was caught off guard by how nice a stranger that I had just _walked _in on was. But then again, maybe everyone was nice and I just couldn't remember. "Thank you very much," I raced through my brain for a compliment to give her too. "You're… a doll—no, I mean, look like a doll. You look like a doll. Very pretty too."

I gulped nervously as she laughed at me. "I like you," she said. "Let's be friends, okay?"

Before I could answer, Doll skipped down the hall humming softly.

"Okay," I said smiling, even though she was already gone.

**Light**

Sayu wasn't at the dining hall when Matt and I went for breakfast, leaving me feeling anxious all through the meal. I knew I wasn't supposed to keep tabs on her constantly, but what if she had regained her memories during the night and told someone?

I shook my head and took a sip of my coffee to avert my attention. I needed something to occupy my mind, anything to avoid thinking about the mission. So I paid attention to the dining room, a lively hall with round tables for students to sit at, and long tables for us to serve our food. Everything from the tables to the chairs was some kind of expensive wood, the kind the Lefebvre's would own. The room was lit with crystal chandeliers that gleamed above the tables of chattering children, making everything lively.

I'd seen a handful of teen movies with Sayu before the memory loss, and they all depicted school food as being inedible and cardboard. But this was far from the truth at this so called 'orphanage'. The students were most likely better fed than people who went out to eat at high-end restaurants. From their large assortment of pastries and other unpronounceable dishes, I opted to only sample the omelet that smelled divine.

One taste however sent my stomach into knots, recalling that Madame Jacqueline, the Lefebvre's cook, favorite meal to cook was breakfast. By eating someone else's breakfast, I felt like I didn't honor her for the kindness she had shown me throughout my childhood.

I tried to take a second bite, but the images of her dead body on the kitchen floor the day of the assassination came to my mind. At that moment, I dropped my fork and stuck to coffee for the rest of the meal.

"You want to try something else?" Matt asked, "Lunch is a little late today since it's Sunday, so you might want to bring something with you." Matt had filled his plate with an assortment of meats and eggs.

I put down my cup, "Not much of a fan of breakfast."

He nodded like he understood, which I highly doubt he did. "Well afterwards we can continue the tour and you'll be free to go—oh, hey Mello, where have you been?"

Matt was no longer looking at me, but instead, above my head. I followed his gaze and turned around, stunned to see the person behind me: Mr. 'You-wouldn't-want-me-as-an-enemy'.

The blond boy—Mello— was dressed _much_ differently from the previous night. No leather, no rosary, just a black sweater with jeans.

"Light this is Mello, he also happens to be in our Elective Day classes." Matt continued, unaware of the tension emitting from Mello and me.

Mello kept his gaze steady on me and said, "Nice to meet you, _Light_." He said the ending in an eerie tone, like knowing my name was valuable information to him somehow.

Since he was already pretending not to know me, I played along. "Thank you, would you like to have a seat?"

Mello accepted my invitation, sitting beside Matt. "So he's in our class now, huh?" he asked Matt.

Matt nodded, taking another bite from his food. "Yeah, I was surprised. We haven't had a new student since—"

"_Near_," Mello concluded in a dark tone.

They were speaking about those classes again, which pricked my interest. What was so special about those classes? "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly do we learn in those elective classes?" I asked.

Mello gave me a slight smirk. "It's complicated. But trust me, you'll see tomorrow."

No answer once again. I forgot about the classes and continued my coffee as Matt explained to Mello the rest of the tour. Mello had apparently invited himself to accompany us and this left me uneasy. So far Mello was the only person who'd seen me sneak out last night to encounter Wedy. He was a witness, a threat.

But not only him, the cameras were as well. I'm sure Wedy had found a way around them last night, but what about in the future? If I ever hoped to avenge the Lefebvre's on my own, I'd need the liberty of leaving this orphanage whenever I pleased. That meant I'd need to shut down the surveillance cameras, wherever the power room was.

I had a theory it was on the top floor of the orphanage because no students were allowed there. If I managed to find it, I could always shut it down when needed.

"Matt is it alright if I go to the restroom before we start the tour again?" I asked monotone.

Matt didn't detect any deceit in my tone. "Sure, do you know where it is?"

"I'm sure I'll manage."

At that note, I excused myself and left the dining hall, trying my best to keep my face as placid as possible. If there was any time to explore the top floor, it would be now. Since I was new, I could easily lie and say no one warned me not to go on that floor.

Using the elevator, I went up to the fifth floor. There was no option for a sixth floor in the elevator, so once the doors opened, I used the stairs to go up the next floor. Each step I took, I felt my heartrate increase. I feared getting caught on the staircase leading to the sixth floor more than I feared being caught on the actual floor for some strange reason. But by the time the door to the sixth floor came into view, I hadn't been caught.

There was no significant difference from all the other residential floors, except the lights were dimmer and there was no sound of children through the halls. Because of the silence, it felt like every step I took echoed through the empty hall.

I came to the first door and turned the knob, keeping an eye on the staircase just in case someone came up. Unfortunately, this door was locked, so I moved on to the next one. This one was unlocked and I eagerly opened it—

"What are you doing up here?"

My body froze and my eyes widened in fear. It took me a second to regain my composure, but I turned to face the person slowly with an innocent expression. I anticipated to see Mr. Wammy or another adult, but not a person who resembled a… _skinny panda_.

When I said that, I meant it in the kindest way possible. The young man who stood before me was as pale as a ghost (Matt had mentioned something about ghost on this floor) and hunched over. His black hair needed a long overdue haircut and his eyes had dark circles so deep, they appeared to be embedded in his flesh.

This person seemed far from intimidating—he wasn't even wearing shoes—for all I knew, he was most likely another student. "Oh, I'm new. Sorry, I got a little lost." I flashed him my innocent smile, the one that I had been using a lot recently to throw people off.

But the young man didn't return it. Instead, he tilted his head to the side and said. "Oh? You're new? _Interesting_. Where are you from?"

"Japan,"

"Ah, I thought so…" he trailed on. "Your English is very excellent, Light-kun."

"Thank you very—" I stopped short, what he said sinking in. "How… I don't recall introducing myself to you."

Although it wouldn't be impossible to figure out my name, I had just arrived the previous night. How could someone I hadn't even met find out who I was? I wanted to find in excuse, like maybe the other students were talking about Sayu and me, but deep inside, I knew something wasn't right.

He didn't say anything about my comment, only turned away. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Light-kun. I look forward to our future encounters—oh, and one last thing: your accent's off."

"Excuse me?"

He glanced at me. "Your accent. You said you're from Japan, and even though your English sounds perfect to most, I am not easily fooled. I find it very fascinating how your accent sounds similar to a native French speaker. But I just have very observant ears."

This sent a chill down my spine as I tried to control my facial expression. The Lefebvre's estate may have been in Japan, but the whole household had spoken French. I had learned Japanese as my second language and English as my third. No one had noticed my slight accent because I had nearly perfected the art of controlling my accent. But this man had somehow managed to hear through it.

As he walked off, I glared at his back, my hand never leaving the door knob. I didn't know who this man was, but I think I may have just met my greatest threat.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading! Review for more**


End file.
